One month in a watertight boat

London, June 17: By the time this mail letter arrives in New Zealand the 23 public school boys who sailed by the Corinthic last week will have reached their destination. Their departure was recorded "by a New Zealander" in a special article in The Morning Post: "This is beginning of a general movement in New Zealand to absorb the English public school boys desirous of an open-air life overseas. The dominion was originally settled by public school boys, which probably accounts for its essentially British character and its preference for all things British, and it is in accordance with the fitness of things that it should now receive of England’s best migration material, the public school boy. How different are the conditions under which the boys are going from those that prevailed in the early colonisation days of New Zealand! Those days were not so far off — but 70 to 80 years ago. Then ships little bigger than the fishing smacks that trawl the waters of the English Channel or the North Sea, and less seaworthy, took from four to six months to do the 14,000-mile journey. Often, owing to adverse currents and weather, up to 20,000 miles was traversed. And the food! All salted down in barrels. There was no refrigerating in those days, no fresh butter, meat and vegetables. How the emigrants lived through it all is a mystery to the man who gets ‘fed up’ with the journey under modern conditions of comfort and interest. No wonder the early colonists were resourceful, pertinacious and courageous, and laid the foundations of the virile and prosperous dominion of to-day."

Trams to meet further apart

Cr Sincock said he thought the manager and the committee could confer and bring about an improvement at the junction of the Roslyn cable tram and the Maori Hill line. As they had read in the papers, there had been an accident there on the previous evening. He questioned when the two cars met at the junction whether there were three feet of space in which passengers could stand. He suggested that the electric car should stop about 12 yards from where it stopped at present. It was only through the prompt action of the gripman and the motorman that a serious accident had been prevented. There was no doubt it was a dangerous part of the line. The Mayor agreed with Cr Sincock that the hill line at the Junction was dangerous. The manager of the tramways would shortly be able to have another long car on the Maori Hill line, and it was proposed to make a stoppage at the junction about a length before they came to the existing stoppage.

St John Ambulance raising money

His Majesty’s Theatre was crowded again yesterday evening, when the members and friends of the St John Ambulance Association continued the Oriental Carnival, which has been organised for the purpose of raising funds in order to make possible the purchase of an up-to-date ambulance. The theatre annexe presented a busy scene, the gaily-decorated and well-stocked stalls attracting eager purchasers. The Victoria Hall, where dancing was enjoyed, also attracted large numbers of young people. The entertainment in the theatre proper attracted a large audience, and each evening the performers gain more confidence, and their efforts to entertain are thoroughly appreciated. The pretty dance "Japonetto" and the amusing "Divertissements" were equally successful, and effective staging and grouping enhance their success. The banner for the most successful stall was won last night by Mesdames G.M. Baker and G. Moreton, who are in charge of the St John Ambulance Association stall. With a view to preventing overcrowding in the evenings it has been decided to open the carnival this afternoon, and to-morrow and Saturday afternoons, which will enable the stallholders to attend to the requirements of customers much more promptly than is the case when the stalls are thronged. — ODT, 31.7.1924

Compiled by Peter Dowden